A. Lukashenko demands to minimize the development of state programs and concepts

January 17, Minsk /BELTA/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko demands to minimize formalism in the work of authorities and to eliminate such a practice as the development of concepts, programs, and other similar documents for areas of state life that have already been worked out, where it is clear and understandable what and how needs to be done without additional paperwork. Everything should be subordinated to concrete work, real deeds, not paperwork. He stated this on January 17 at a meeting on the republican program "Youth of Belarus" for 2011-2015, BELTA was informed by the press service of the head of state. A draft of the republican program "Youth of Belarus" for the five-year period was presented to the President for consideration. Similar programs have been adopted in the country since 1996. The developers defined the active involvement of youth in the life of the country as a key feature of the current program, using their potential in full – mobility, initiative, receptiveness to new technologies, and innovations. The five-year program proposed solutions to such tasks as patriotic education of youth, assistance in professional orientation and employment of young citizens in their free time, provision of state support for young families, development of youth social initiatives, promotion of a healthy lifestyle among youth, development of international youth cooperation, and others. However, Alexander Lukashenko expressed doubts about the necessity of adopting this youth program. According to the President, a system of working with youth has already been established in the country, financial resources have been allocated, and it is clear who will implement the main activities with youth at the central and local levels. "The question arises: why are we developing this program? Is it because we lack something or we don't know how to proceed in this area of working with youth, or have we not defined something in working with youth, or do we lack certain structures to work with youth? Or have we not conceptually and substantively defined in the adopted five-year program (for socio-economic development of the country) the path we will take and how we will act towards youth? In my opinion, these are purely rhetorical questions," said the head of state. "Why do we need this program? To write another document and put it in a drawer somewhere and show it to everyone from time to time, saying, look how well we are working with youth? Or is this program vitally necessary?" the President asked a logical question. "Alright, this is in the past, maybe we didn't know how to act, we gathered, we defined, we organized brainstorming sessions on certain activities. But today, everything is clear. Therefore, the question arises: do we need this program or not, what is new in it compared to what we are already doing in practice," he said. According to the head of state, what has been said applies to government bodies in general for the future. "In principle, I am raising the issue of eliminating such a practice in the future as the development of concepts, programs, and other unnecessary and empty documents," he noted. "No programs and no concepts. Programs and concepts are needed only when and where we are starting something new, where we need to clearly define conceptually and concentrate resources. Otherwise, we clutter up our work or pretend to work well by generating programs. This is my fundamental position." The President said that he had already rejected several such programs. "We don't need creative groups to write the obvious, and we don't need to spend money on it. It's better to spend it on youth, families, children, veterans. I am listing these areas because some concepts and programs could have been developed for them too," he noted. "There should be no formalism, starting from January and henceforth. We need to write and do what we need to do. We need to move on to concrete work with youth. And the fact that something didn't work out with youth is not because there was no program or insufficient funding. It's because no one worked with youth, they weren't even told the basics. They didn't visit universities, vocational schools, let alone schools. Therefore, we need to work on the basics with youth, children, veterans – and everything will work out," emphasized Alexander Lukashenko. The participants of the meeting presented their arguments in favor of adopting the program, but the President found them unconvincing. He pointed to the weak practical implementation of measures to work with youth and the lack of targeted work with this segment of society. Alexander Lukashenko called for a conceptual approach to working with youth. At the same time, he urged to act not in the old way, but to seek new methods and approaches, taking into account modern realities. "Start dealing with specifics!" he demanded. "We need to do something in the sphere of youth. Today's youth are the people who will replace us tomorrow, they must take the country into their hands and carry it, defending independence, sovereignty, ensuring a normal image, etc. What should we do? Sit down and think!" said Alexander Lukashenko. "Think about what we need to do in working with youth, starting from the President and ending with the primary organizations of public associations." The head of state also drew attention to the fact that funds will not be allocated thoughtlessly to any areas through programs. Only specific measures that yield significant returns will be financed. At the same time, he warned of personal responsibility for every ruble spent. -0-